So - pretty slow market so far. But i am very pleased with the economical K-Rod signing for the Mets. all things considered - it looked like this was going to cost a LOT more than it did. And the Mets needed a lock down closer in the worst way. All else being equal - he is an upgrade over wagner, even if Billy hadn't broken down. There is still a lot of work to eb done in the bullpen - but this is a fine start.

Now, get me a left fielder.

And wow - did the Yankees ever overpay for Sabathia. I think they will regret this move and I think it will hamper their future efforts this off season.

But things should start to open up now......

yeah, as much as I would enjoy watching Sabathia pitch for the Brewers again in 2009 - I'm kind of glad that he went to the Yanks - even the lesser offer the Crew gave him would have crippled them IMO had he accepted. Milwaukee's just too small a market to spend that much on 1 guy -especially a pitcher, and for that many years.

Hah! I KNEW IT!!!! Remember last year when I posted that if Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot were alive they'd be Cubs or Yankees fans. Well, Luke, here's some SOLID proof for you - yes the Cubs are even more evil than the Yanks - enjoy:

http://hirejimessian.com/2008/12/07/winter-meetings-preview/

RE: K-rod, another choker for a team full of them

Re: Yanks, the more glaring move they made was voerpaying for A.J. I always liekd him, but he is too inconsistient (helath wise too) for that kind of deal.

K rod a choker?? Wha???

Dude set a major league record for saves last year, he helped them win the world series in 2002 and I can't think of a single big game he has blown in the post season.

last year followed by 2007 in the payoffs for k-rod =

He lost them game 2 last year and the year before

and struggled in game three

"Francisco Rodriguez , who had a record 62 saves in the regular season, allowed J.D. Drew 's ninth-inning homer to lose Game 2 and almost took another loss Sunday. The Red Sox loaded the bases against the Angels' closer in the 10th, but he got Jed Lowrie on a routine fly to right to end the threat."

source ESPN.com

2002 they won with offensive (i think there was like one game the angels won and scored less then 5 runs). so yeah, choker. Great regular season guy (i.e. when the Angles win 100 games with no pressure) but put pressure on him and he appears to be average at best. Maybe he will beat that sterotype, but until he does, i'm underwhelmed.

Stag Lord said:

Well, the mlb record for saves may not be completely meaningless; but, it doesn't mean a heck of a lot either - saves are about the least meaningful stat ever created in baseball (maybe any sport).

That said, I wouldn't call him a choker, he's a solid reliever.

Saves aren't quite as meaningless a stat as holds.

Thomas Snow said:

Pretty much the same thing - I think they are both equally meaningless.

So - Hall of Fame elections were held today and Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice have been immortalized. i think both are pretty obvious choices - i have said in the past how surprised I was that Rice hadn't made it previously.

Andre Dawson missed wiht only 67% of the vote. I think he falls just short of immortality - but we'll see how things play out in the future.

Solid stuff from the HoF this year in my opinion.

Ehh, I don't think that Rice deserves to be in any more than Albert Belle, or many other good players. But not the worst injustice.

Blyleven and Raines should pretty clearly be in the Hall, IMO - but, I know we've had those discussions before.

I could see Belle getting in - how long was he dominant though? Did he have those ten all time years? I think I looked at him one time and he was rigth there - with nine or so amazing seasons.

Blyleven please, Raines maybe. You are right though - we did run those arguments kinda into the ground last winter.

Yeah, Belle has the years.

If you really look at Raines stats, he's was dominant - if he hadn't spent most of his career in Montreal, he probably would've been voted in this year in his first try - but he did spend most of his career in Montreal, and it'll be tough for him.

Suffice it to say, we are about as far apart as possible on Blyleven.

LOL yes. ~You have a soft spot for statistical compliers who hang on for 25 years - I prefer dominant players who are clearly the best at their position for an extended period of time.

Lowe going to the Braves scares me quite frankly. although it probably is a step down from Smoltz, he's still quite god. I suspect the Mets will end up with Randy Wolf at the back end of their rotation, I think Perez and Boras have an inflated idea of what ollie perez deserves to be making.

Biggest question left: whither Manny? (Also whother Ben Sheets - darn that injury really cost him some bucks this off season).

Sheet will probably end up in Houston. I still think Manny will be a dodger, maybe a Giant if his the market is really that down.

And, I've just got to say for the record, that I too believe that the HOF should be for dominant players - I don't see Blyleven as a compiler. No pitcher can live up to being THE best pitcher in the league for an extended period, but was he one of the top 4 or 5 (e.g. is he in the rotation if you can choose any 4 or 5 from the AL/ or any 4 or 5 from the NL? - the answer to that question for me is Yes on Blyleven).

What's with the Mets pizza fetish?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/Mets-pizza-patch-the-laughingstock-of-baseball-?urn=mlb,133840

Stag Lord said:

OK, because I simply can't resist - Blyleven played only 22 years (not 27 like Nolan Ryan - a far bigger 'compiler' IMO).

Just some quick comparisons - # of Seasons finished in top 5 of category for these players (my quick take on what makes someone 'dominant'). I'm using ERA/Ratio (Hits plus BB per IP)/Strikeouts/ERA+ (adjusted for ballpark). Chose some guys elected Recently or under consideration:

Bert Blyleven 7/7/13/7

Nolan Ryan 5/5/18/3

Steve Carlton 5/4/12/5

Catfish Hunter: 3/4/1/3

Jack Morris: 2/2/4/1

I chose those categories because I think they are most emblematic of talent. FYI, Blyleven would fair extremely well if you use Winning Percentage or Shutouts as well, less well if just Wins.

I didn't pick Sutton or Jenkins because I suspect they'd be compilers, though it might be interesting to check. Seaver I figured would be totally awesome - but I also was surprised that Carlton's leader #'s weren't better - I thought they would be. I chose Hunter because he was one of the recent inductees I thought would best represent Dominance further career length. Morris because he's getting a lot of HOF support.

As you can see - Blyleven fares quite well - you can easily say he had 7 great seasons to Ryan's or Carlton's 5.

And yes, the top 5 is arbitrary ( I chose thinking of picking a rotation). but if you would expand to top 10, you could tack on a couple more seasons for Blyleven (I think Ryan would catch up to him then).

Hunter really surprises me - I don't often hear his name mentioned as a mistake, but this method (I admit not perfect) doesn't make him look HOF worthy

Add A-Rod to the list of lying, dirty cheaters who have blackened baseball for teh past fifteen years. Sigh.

The worst part of this is that i was so hoping he was clean so we could have a clean home run champion to erase bonds' record. now we won't see a clean HR champ probabluy in our lifetimes. Aaron is still the champ in my eyes with 755 - and he will be for some time to come.Because A-Rod will end up wiht 800+ and really - do you see that being broken anytime in the nxt twenty years?

Just disgusting.